Headache antimigraine action

Sumatriptan, the most extensively studied antimigraine therapy, is available for subcutaneous, oral, and intranasal administration. Subcutaneous sumatriptan is consistently superior to placebo in alleviating migraine headache and associated symptoms, with relief reported in 71% of patients at 1 hour (43% pain-free) and 79% at 2 hours (60% pain-free) in a meta-analysis of placebo-controlled studies. " In addition to enhanced efficacy, subcutaneous sumatriptan has amore rapid onsetof action (10 minutes) when compared with the oral formulation (30 minutes). " The subcutaneous injection is packaged as an autoinjector device for self-administration by patients. Intranasal sumatriptan provides a faster onset of effect (15 minutes) than the oral formulation and produces similar rates of response (relief in 61% of patients at 2 hours) in placebo-controlled studies." Approximately 30% to 40% of patients who respond to sumatriptan experience headache recurrence within 24 hours." This has been attributed to the drug s short half-life, but recurrence is a problem with most acute migraine therapies. " A second dose given at the time of recurrence usually is effective. 

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